Christmas 2009!

Christmas this year was great. We enjoyed lots of family time, and of course a visit from St. Nick!


Bri and THurray for race cars!

The boys received an electric train for Christmas. They love it! They went to a train show this past week, and returned home excited to make bridges and other things for their train.

Tickle-Me-Max!

Opening presents at Nana and Grandpa's house

Tate's cousin Lindsey got an American Girl doll from Nana this Christmas--I'm just not sure this was the one she was expecting! :)

This is how we found Max after we had opened all the presents on Christmas morning.
Guess he needed a little extra sleep!
Uncle Derek and his new wife Cristina visited from Atlanta, GA. We were so excited to see them!

A local stable had real Reindeer. They are actually very small!

We loved visiting the Salt Lake City LDS Temple and seeing the lights

Both the boys went to the Ballet West Nutcracker this year.

Tate's Preschool program was at a theater just around the corner from our house. He did great!

Book Club!

To all you book lovers---

I have started an online book club. For more info go to

www.theairofideas.blogspot.com

"See" you there!

Brrr.....

Well it's been cold lately. No. Strike that. It has been freezing! Today the boys and I braved sledding with some friends. We had a great time--all 15 minutes! The boys really did have fun. They came to the car under duress, my poor little popsicles. I think they would have stayed much longer if I had let them. I'm sure we will be enjoying this a lot during the winter!


Tate loved going down the hill.

Max wanted nothing to do with the sled. He was much happier running up the hill, then running down it, and collapsing at the bottom giggling.

Santa Claus is Coming To Town!

We had a great time visiting with Santa last week. I have the fun opportunity each year to take Santa pictures at a local museum, then donate the proceeds back to the museum. The boys couldn't wait to see Santa. As he was arriving, they ran right up to him. Max had quite a story to tell him. Tate was excited but acted a little bit shy.

This is my favorite picture from the whole day. Santa at the end of a long day.

Adoption!

Dear Family and Friends,

We hope this letter finds you well. We have some exciting developments to tell you about, and we need your help.

As you may know, we are in the process of trying to expand our family through adoption. Recent developments with LDS Family Services have made it possible for us, as well as other couples we know, to do a designated adoption. (Because of complications during pregnancy with Tate and Max, it has been recommended that Lindsay not physically carry another child.)

What does that mean for us? It means that we have a third party, such as family and friends (that's you!), involved in helping place a child with our family. Designated adoption is defined as "birth parents and adoptive parents independently selecting each other through a third party without disclosing the identity of each other." The trained staff at LDS Family Services will be able to handle the adoption on behalf of the adoptive parent saving, in most cases, thousands of dollars for the adoptive couple compared to what private adoption agencies charge. They are also able to ensure that the birth parents receive grief counseling and support through professional counseling or support groups.

If you know of a birthmother who may be interested in placing her child for adoption or just want more information about her options before making a decision, please have her call LDS Family Services at 801-566-2556 and ask for an appointment with one of the social workers. Our social worker is Shantel Pettit. If she is interested, she can learn about us by viewing our family profile at www.itsaboutlove.org Simply click on "View Adopting Family Profiles" Then enter our names at the bottom of the page. She can also view our public blog at www.wearefamilymdtmg.blogspot.com

We are very excited about this process and hope you can help us build our family through adoption!

Thank you for your help. It is greatly appreciated! Please call us if you have any questions.

With much love,

Chad and Lindsay

Halloween!

This Halloween was great! On Monday there was a "Haunted Hollows" in Draper that we went to. Our favorite part was watching the firemen go to the tippy top of the ladder then drop a huge pumpkin! Our church held a trunk-or-treat party on Tuesday, and then it was pretty much festivities until Saturday! The boys loved dressing up, and we were surprised when they wanted to go to more than one house to trick-or-treat.

Shaggy, Velma, Scooby Doo, and the Monster!

Chad and Tate carving pumpkins at Nana's house

Tate made this awesome haunted house. It has a ghost coming down the pumpkin path to the halloween party. The details are pretty cute...

Of course, no haunted house is complete without a garage and a car to go in it.

This is the vampire at the haunted house.Tate, Mad, and some friends at the ward trunk-or-treat

A haunting we will go... Chad and I went with Chad's sister and her husband up to Brigham City to the Barron Woolen Mill. It is a deserted mill that is supposedly haunted. A group called "Wasatch Paranormal" allows groups of people to come up and watch as they conduct experiments. It was pretty fun--of course at 2am just about everything looks spooky! We did catch this picture. Check out the upper right window pane (there was no glass in it, so it couldn't be a reflection.) Probably a logical explanation, but we're having more fun believing it's a ghost!


Max helping to carve a pumpkin
Tanja and Lindsey carving pumpkins--Happy Birthday Tanja!

We have had a busy last month. (Seriously?! It's been a month since I did this?!) Things are good at the Goeckeritz household. Chad continues to love being a dentist--and fitting in the occasional tee time. Max has started to really talk, and it's fun to hear what's going in that little head! Tate loves going to preschool and likes to impress us with the things he knows such as

Tate: Hey Daddy, come'ere
Daddy: What's up?
Tate starts laughing and whispers: don't tell Mommy but 'poop' starts with 'p'!

Another Tate-ism
Tate: Mommy, this is a stupid, dumb car!
Mommy: First of all, we don't say stupid or dumb. Secondly, what's the problem?
Tate: This car has turnites! It won't turn.

Never a dull moment here!!

Hiking near Nana and Grandpa's cabin

Yippy Skippy! I won a prize at the fair!

Chad, Harald, and the boys

Daddy, Tate, and Max flying the helicopter at the fair

Max and his buddy fingerpainting with pudding